Implementing shared decision-making in nutrition clinical practice: a theory-based approach and feasibility study.

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Health Professions Education
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Growing dietary treatment options for chronic diseases necessitate informed decision-making.
• Shared decision making (SDM) enhances the quality of evidence-based and value-based dietary choices.
• Lack of theory-based approaches hinders SDM implementation in allied health professions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore SDM integration in real nutritional consultations.
• To design questionnaires assessing dietitians' intention to adopt SDM behaviors.
• To utilize the Theory of Planned Behavior to understand SDM adoption.

Main Methods:

• Forty dietitians will audiotape clinical encounters to assess SDM presence.
• Focus groups will identify beliefs influencing dietitians' intention to present evidence-based options.
• Questionnaire items will be developed from identified beliefs; reliability tested via test-retest.

Main Results:

• Preliminary data on SDM adoption by dietitians and patients will be provided.
• Dietitians' salient beliefs regarding SDM intention will be elicited.
• A specific questionnaire for assessing SDM intention will be developed.

Conclusions:

• This research is the first to explore SDM adoption in dietetics using a theory-based approach.
• It will provide insights into dietitians' views on SDM implementation across settings.
• Results are expected to significantly contribute to SDM emergence in nutrition practice.